“Delayed until late next year.” Those are the works that fans of technology hate to hear. But fans of Microsoft’s Windows Mobile platform are going to have to learn to live with them for the next 12 months. At least we have some nice screen shots to look at.
Phil Moore, who heads up Microsoft’s UK mobility unit was on the hot seat during a Q&A session at the Connect! technology summit, which was held in London recently.
Reporting on the event, the Mobile News website, based in the UK, quotes Mr. Moore as saying:
“We’re still playing catch-up. When Apple came on to the scene a couple of years ago, it threw away the rulebook and reinvented it. We unfortunately don’t have that luxury. It’s true, Apple caught us all napping. It launched something that was very iconic, new and unseen with a very good user interface.”
Mr. Moore continued stating that one of the goals for Windows Mobile 7 is address the massive gap (my words) between the Windows Mobile experience and the iPhone experience. Mr. Moore continues:
“It [Windows Mobile 7] has been put back until late next year but it is definitely coming. You’re going to see a lot more on Windows Mobile 7. Giving the enterprise users and consumers what they want will be part of Windows Mobile 7. You’ll get flexibility on a much easier touch UI.”
Ouch! Being a long time fan of Palm, I can surely relate to what Windows Mobile fans are feeling right now. It was a good 5 years between the release of Palm OS 5.0 and Palm webOS. Microsoft is going to have to fill a tall order if they are going to try to take on Apple for the hearts and minds of mobile users.
You can read the full article on the Mobile News website.